RUMOUR HAS IT...
FERRARI PLOT FOILED
Sardinian organised-crime bosses have been foiled in a plot to steal a Ferrari. They didn’t plan to steal a newmodel Ferrari, or even a Ferrari Enzo, but Enzo Ferrari. They wanted to steal the real Enzo Ferrari, who died in 1988. The original Enzo Ferrari.
According to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, the attack of the body snatchers would have seen the mafia gang break into Ferrari’s cemetery plot in Modena, steal the body and hold it for ransom. It was not clear who the ransom note would have been aimed at, though it’s presumed either Ferrari (the company) itself would have been the target or Ferrari’s son, Piero, who retains a significant financial stake in his father’s company and owns part of the Maserati headquarters.
SUBARU IS … SUBARU
Subaru’s parent company has changed its name to something a bit more familiar to Subaru fans. Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd is now called Subaru Corp.
The car-making operation has long been the most famous brand in the Fuji Heavy Industry portfolio, which makes industrial products from trains to helicopters, and is named after the Japanese word for the Pleiades group of stars.
“In recent years, our effort has been expanded from making good products to delivering distinctive value which only Subaru can bring to customers. This change in name declares Subaru’s determination to thrive as a brand that delivers value,” said CEO Yasuyuki Yoshinaga.
While the name change was celebrated in Tokyo and across Subaru’s manufacturing facilities, it’s not the first time it has switched names. Its roots spread back to the Aircraft Research Laboratory, founded in 1917, which was renamed Nakajima Aircraft Factory (after founder Chikuhei Nakajima) in 1918, then it switched to Nakajima Aircraft Company Limited in 1931. Eager to distance itself from military connotations, it refocused from planes to civilian products in 1945 and renamed itself Fuji Sangyo Co Ltd but a government edict forced it to split into 12 companies in 1950. Five of the 12 companies (Omiya Fuji Kogyo, Tokyo Fuji Sangyo, Fuji Kogyo, Fuji Jidosha Kogyo and Utsunomiya Sharyo) joined together in 1953 to create Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. Even then, in its sixth iteration, it had yet to build a car. Its first production car was the microsized Subaru 360 in 1958.
AUDI ENTERING F1?
Audi has set the motorsport rumour mill buzzing again with reports in Germany that it attended the recent Formula One engine regulation meeting.
Planned to narrow down engine regulations for 2021 and beyond, the FIA meeting was held in Paris last Friday.
Audi withdrew from the World Endurance Championship at the end of the 2016 season after dominating the Le Mans 24 Hour race for nearly 20 years.
FIA president Jean Todt hasn’t offered a lot of hope to those not enamoured with the current and expensive hybrid V6 engine regulations, insisting that the ear-splitting V10 would never come back.
“I realise this is a sensitive subject,” he confided to Italian newspaper La Repubblica. “F1 is the flagship of the motorsport industry, and it must be in line with the technological developments of the industry. On the other hand, it must be a balance to keep it sustainable. Machines today are too sophisticated.”
Audi was headed to Formula One until the costs of the Dieselgate crisis shattered the Volkswagen Group’s budget expectations. While it retains a presence in the German DTM touring car championship, it now prefers customer racing like GT racing.
Insiders insist Audi and the Volkswagen Group had been working on a 1.6l V6 turbo Formula One engine since early in 2015, though it has been shelved indefinitely.
The car maker’s preferred strategy was to buy an existing F1 operation outright to blend with its own in-house development, rather than building up an F1 operation from scratch. The prime takeover targets were Red Bull Racing and its Italian-based junior team, Toro Rosso.
GETTING IT RIGHT
In Motor News on March 30 2017 we published an incorrect price for the forthcoming Mercedes-Benz AMG GT C roadster. The correct price should be R2,599,000 and the vehicle will be on sale in SA from June 2017. We apologise for any confusion the error might have caused.